Paper TF-MoA4
Inorganic Modification of Cellulosic Fibers for Enhanced Oil Sorption Capacity

Monday, October 30, 2017, 2:40 pm, Room 20

A few atomic layer deposition (ALD) cycles of metal oxides onto cellulosic fibers is known to modify the fiber’s surface energy and make the fiber hydrophobic. In this research we use the trimethylaluminum-water chemistry to make cellulosic fibers highly hydrophobic (WCA ~160°) and oleophilic, transforming natural cotton into an ideal material for oil spill remediation. The ALD-treated cellulose floats on water for over 12 months and readily sorbs oil, whereas untreated cellulose preferentially sorbs water over oil (Figures 1 and 2). ALD-treated cellulose has a significantly higher oil sorption capacity (e.g., 20 g g^-1 vs. 0.11 g g^-1) than raw cotton across a range of experimental conditions approximating those encountered in real-world oil spill remediation efforts (Figure 3). While studies in the literature report ultra-high oil sorption capacities (~200 g g^-1), this study finds that reporting oil sorption capacity in terms of g g^-1 can be misleading, and recommends this measure be reported in tandem with the material’s volumetric oil sorption capacity (g cm^-3) because of its greater relevance to use-case effectiveness. The comparison of g g^-1 and g cm^-3 oil sorption capacities given in Table 1 demonstrate that the sorbent produced here is comparable to some of the best reports in the literature. This talk will detail how the oil sorption capacity of these new materials change with differing real-world conditions and explain the efficacy of Al₂O₃ ALD applied to cellulosic fibers as a scalable, cost-effective method for creating biodegradable, on-demand materials for oil spill remediation.